In reference to the prior art, e.g. Patent publications EP 0,318,415, U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,937, U.S. Pat. No. 3,974,320, U.S. Pat. No. 5,447,594, U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,370, and JP 6278247 disclose structures, which are based on fabric or non-woven constructed plies of material. All of the above are inadequate in terms of their functions, especially due to their lack of strain or stretching property, and hence inapplicable for the manufacture of products which particularly require elasticity. The reason for this is that the fabric or non-woven structures used in such products are only capable of providing pliable or flexible constructions, which are not, however, actually stretchable. The foregoing applies also largely to the solutions disclosed in Patent publications JP 62297333, JP 11172860, and JP 1096227, all of which are not necessarily provided with a so-called fabric or non-woven structure as a reinforcement but, for example, with carbon fiber systems or the like. Even these solutions cannot enable the manufacture of a 2- or 3-dimensional elastic product, since the discussed solutions are only capable of producing pliable structures. All the foregoing solutions may be able to produce even highly flexible structures, yet incapable of producing structures which would be uni-, not to mention bi- or triaxially stretchable, as required by elasticity.
The prior art further discloses the implementation of structures provided especially with a fabric-based reinforcement structure, e.g. as set forth in Patent publications WO 9200343 or JP 60259682. Even at its best, the strain provided by these solutions is less than 36%, which restricts significantly the usefulness of such solutions in the manufacture of products requiring special elasticity. The inadequate strain properties and high module of elasticity result from and are based on the fact that the fabric structures used in connection therewith are consistent with traditional technology. Thus, a sufficient elasticity is not provided thereby, since in practical applications, particularly with regard to the demands of health care industry, the minimum requirement for elasticity is easily about 100%.